St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-04-01
BUDDRA TRANSCENDENT.
A n Interesting Lecture by Gen. ohm
son Upon Buddhism and a Conn
paris0n with Christianity.

An Interesting Lecture by Gen. j ohm
| son Upon Buddhism and a Conn
parison with Christianity.
Gen. r. w. johnson lectured before a
good audience at the Y. NJ. c. A. rooms
last evening on Buddhism. He was fire.
Quently humorous and made several inter-
esting comparisons. That the religion of
the Buddhist was spiritleSs imitation of the
Christian religion, he was convinced. The
story of the birth of Buddha, and the Cir
cumstanceS attendant upon his advent, and
the incidents of his life were so like the
narrative of the birth and life of Christ.
that he was constrained to believe that
Buddhism was copied after the Christian re-
ligion. If Buddha did indeed exist SAB
years before Christ. and this could be
proved, then he would feel like presumng
that the Christian religion was an imitation,
although great Improvement, of Budd-
hism.
The fact of the name of the fnothereof
Buddha corresponding to that of Mary. the
virgin mother of Christ, the similarity be-
tween the statements that at the age of IL
years Buddha COMPOUNDED the priests in the
temple, and the words of the evangelist that
at the same age Christ made the doctors in
the temple marvel greatly, showed CORE
spondence and great similarity between the
two. But as authors had disagreed regard
ing the time of Buddha'S existence, there was
good reason for believing that Buddha must
have existed after the gospels had been writ
ten. They have triune god, the "Buddh'' in
heaTen, the "Buddh" incarnate upon earth,
and the spirit of "Buddh'' as the reflection
left upon earth OF Buddha, corre-
sponded to the Christian trinity.
But while the Buddhist's philosophy
bears material resemblance to the Christian
of grace. 1t has no Redeemer. 1t is Il body
without q spirit-cold and dead. Every be-
lever must work out his own salvation. 1t
degraded women, for Buddha, himself having
got inioirouble with his wife, left her, aud
then. started a system of -nunneries for
wonan's benefit, Believing that the greatest
ambition. of woman should be, to be born
again-to'b be born of man. The speaker was
of the opinion that the principles of Budd-
hism existed long before Buddha, but he was
| q sort of Martin Luther, and gave il form.
1t was the best Of all Asianisms, had much
in 1t TO condemn, and much to praise.
Certainly it had done much toward
! civilizIng the very savage nations
| which had been brought under its in
| iuence. There are now about 400 coo coo
| believers, yet in all it's history there has
! never been known Buddhist prizes. to be-
come all apOState, and the religion had
| spread with enthusiasm and liberation. He
| thought Christians might borrow some of the
enthusiasm of the Buddhist. There were two
branches OF Buddhism, Northern and South
ern Buddhism. the Mongols being under the
| influence of the former, and the Inhabitants
| of India under the latter. They implicitly be-
hevet that Buddha went through $40 different
staRes OF existence before he BECAME man, be-
Y. inning ut the very lowest Of all creation, and
that at the end of his life he was reclining
under q true, meditating upon the seven de-
grees of heaven, until lost in the
lofty heights Of the great beyond,
when he gave up the ghost and
went upward to heaven. Modern astronomy
and geology seems to go back to Buddhism.
The Buddhist believes that this world is made
OF the dead worlds, and that 1t will be buried
at some future time-a theory which both the
modern astronomer and geologist acquiesce
in, since by the aid of a telescope fiery mete-
ors are frequently seen flying through space.
Buddbim is Il system OF traditions of the life
of BSddha, wonder theory of evolution and
a philosophy based upon certain broad and
grand principles. Gen. Johnson, however,
etnphatically believes that Buddha did not
ante-date Christ.
On the evening of April % the Young
Mems Christian association will give gym
nastic exhibition in Exposition rink. 1t will
beNQnder the direction of Prof Weston,
superintendent of the gymnasium.